Religion – Spartan Newsroomhttp://news.jrn.msu.edu
News and information from student journalists at the Michigan State University School of JournalismWed, 21 Feb 2018 22:01:27 +0000en-UShourly1Playing magic with a local goddesshttp://news.jrn.msu.edu/2017/12/playing-magic-with-dawn-botke/
Tue, 19 Dec 2017 04:40:16 +0000http://news.jrn.msu.edu/?p=350710

A local goddess is practicing magic to help the greater community. By reading tarot cards and giving spellbinding stones to customers.

What makes this service a popular one is because no one in Lansing, Mich. offers astrology and magic as a tool for help.

Dawne Botke, a resident of Lansing,knew she wanted to be a goddess since she was a little girl.

With the seal of approval from her mother, they both ventured into the world of astrology, tarot cards and magic.

Botke had to keep this a secret since this was frowned upon in her community. But that didn’t stop her curiosity to learn more about what is alive in a world that’s not ours. And today, she’s made her hobby a living.

‘Triple Goddess Bookstore’ is located in Lansing, Mich. and that’s where Botke primarily spends her time. And most of the time, she’s helping out individuals with her expertise in magic.

]]>Less religion, more astrology – part II: The stars say you’re a loserhttp://news.jrn.msu.edu/2017/12/less-religion-more-astrology-part-ii-the-stars-say-youre-a-loser/
Tue, 19 Dec 2017 02:41:19 +0000http://news.jrn.msu.edu/?p=350520For young people struggling to embrace their identity, online astrology forums can be a safe space.

The use of social media has taken astrology to new heights. Quizzes, guides and other articles written around the Zodiac signs tend to be a running theme on young media sites like Buzzfeed, babe and Refinery29, which are widely circulated on social media platforms.

Facebook groups are popular for users interested in a particular topic, and some of the more dedicated groups can foster a sense of community.

Enter “the stars say you’re a loser,” one of the largest and most active astrology communities on Facebook. With 7,000+ members and thousands more added each month, it’s hard to believe that it has only been around for a year.

“The stars say you’re a loser” is the brainchild of Megan Elizabeth Sims, a senior at Harvard University. Her once-small group has grown remarkably fast since last November.

Sims, 22, started TSSYAL because she saw the need for a safe, inclusive forum for people like her to engage with others and learn about themselves. It would provide a sense of community, along with some lighthearted fun.

“Astrology is something bigger than us that can be used to form connection between individuals and understand how to relate to others,” Sims said. “This is so important for isolated queer kids who may never have it in. I started the stars say you’re a loser to have that sort of community, honestly. I mostly just wanted to be seen and understood.

“I’ve always used personality metrics to figure out how to interact with the world and other people.

“Growing up, I did not fit in with people around me,” she said. “Beyond being a deeply closeted lesbian, I was a liberal Jew growing up in very conservative, very Christian Dallas. I struggled a lot with finding my place and figuring out who I was because of this.”

Sims had always struggled with forming her identity and sense of self. College sent her through a lot of changes in this regard.

During college, Sims began to privately explore astrology again. It became a useful tool for her to understand and reorient herself as she navigated through mental health and sexuality issues.

Sims sees astrology as a system to make sense of the world, similar to religion.

“I’ve always loved systems and order to help me make sense of things, and astrology felt like a way to make myself legible to others and to understand others,” she said.

“I think what draws me and a lot of other millennials, especially LGBTQ+ ones, to astrology is the fact that it’s a system that makes sense but that no one told us to believe,” Sims said. “Most people are raised in a religion, and for some, this can be actively hostile to their personal identity.”

The admins go to great lengths to make sure the group remains a safe space for all.

A short questionnaire is given to would-be members before they are admin-approved to join, which is meant to determine whether the person will treat the group and its members respectfully and follow the rules of conduct.

Along with a few others whose help she has enlisted, Sims acts as an admin and moderator in the group, making sure all posts and comments follow community guidelines. Sims is not afraid to ban users who flout the rules or make others feel bad for taking astrology seriously.

“I grew up reform, so my religious system growing up wasn’t so much based on faith/belief/strict rules about how to believe,” she said. “I wrestled a lot with the idea of G-d in my early teens and identified as an atheist for several of them. But a few years before that, I started to learn about astrology and fell in love.”

Then, in her mid-teens, Sims began connecting more with her faith and with her Jewish peers. This community provided a safe place for her, and gave her a sense of belonging she had never felt before. Her synagogue was also the first place she met openly gay people, she said, and she still feels connected to Judaism.

Sims has though felt more connected more recently to astrology. “I’ve started to pay more attention to transits and other elements of spirituality, and I can identify the influence of the planets on my life beyond as a tool for self-exploration,” she said. “But I don’t think everyone necessarily focuses on this part, which makes sense too.”

Cynthia Lawson clinically died of a heart attack – vitals stopped, and doctors thought she was a gonner – until she came back to life, with a story to tell. In the cold moments when she flat-lined, Cynthia says she left her body and entered a dark tunnel, where she met angels, who shared a message with her. She also encountered an all-consuming bright light while she was dying.

Near-death experience commonalities:

Did this really Did this really happen? Her story is known as a near-death experience and has been widely reported throughout the country regardless of religious background, ethnicity, age or gender. Many near-death experiences share commonalities.

While she was dead, Cynthia says she watched her body from above. She later recalled exactly what happened, play by play, in the hospital room where she died.

In her own words, Cynthia explains her experience.

Editor’s Note: Interviews have been edited for brevity – some parts were omitted for the sake of space. My interview with Cynthia lasted two hours so I have included parts that were most relevant to the questions I asked.

Cynthia

Q: Prior to having this experience, what was your religious background?

A: I was raised Lutheran, and I went to a Lutheran school until third grade. I was back again in Lutheran school in eighth grade. I went to church, I went to Catechism, I did all that. For me, religion holds you down. Organized religion, mostly. I think religion and spirituality are very different things. I think I am a spiritual person, but even more so now.

Q: You clinically died on the hospital table. You say you watched doctors work on your body after your heart stopped. What did they say?

A: My cardiologist came in [the next day in the hospital], he had the kindest, most gentle eyes … he looked at me, and he said ‘it is a miracle that you are here. I thought you were dead.’ I went to his office the next week, … I asked him when he came in, I said, ‘I have a question for you, I said was there a nurse or somebody on my left with a blue uniform on? And did she say ‘I’ll take compressions?’ And I said there was a man up top, and he said something ‘I’ll take compressions?” Did that happen? And he said yes.

Q: And you would not have known this because you were dead at that point?

A: I was dead. Dead. I was dead at that point. I was watching.

Q: Did you have a destination while you were traveling in the tunnel?

A: Not that I know of, I was just being sucked back at the speed of light.

Cynthia demonstrates what it looked like while she was sucked back in the tunnel

Q: What was the bright light like?

A: It was just huge. Huge. I can’t even describe it. And very, very bright.

Q: What do you think that was?

A: I don’t know but for some reason, even then, I thought, ‘this is, like, an inch deep’. And I didn’t go through it. I wonder if…I had gone through that light if I [would have] come back.

Q: Do you think you would’ve gone to heaven?

A: I don’t know. I wonder.

Q: You say you saw a man in blue jeans in the ambulance with you. Do you know who that was?

A: He was in the ambulance with me sitting on the opposite side, where he shouldn’t have been. I didn’t feel anything … he was gentle. He had hair like this (hair down to shoulders). It was like … he was from the ‘70s! It seems like he leaned forward and he said … well, I don’t remember.

Q: Did you feel like you met God or Jesus?

A: I was thinking about that. I was describing that man, I stopped and I thought about it and I thought, is that Jesus? He wasn’t comforting me, he was just kind of there. He wasn’t a threat in any way and I think maybe when I said the Lord’s prayer … He came. He heard me. Maybe, my soul wasn’t ready to go yet.

At one point, my microphone stops working. The batteries were at full power, but the sound was distorted. I ask Cynthia to stop so I can change the batteries.

Chloe: I’m going to change the batteries real quick.

Cynthia: I just heard about this the other day … people who go through this, they drain batteries.

Chloe: Really?

Cynthia: Computers, electronics, light bulbs will blow out because we are all energy, and it is very common, very, very common for electronics to malfunction. If you read through more (near-death experience stories), you will see or hear the same thing. Batteries go completely out.

Chloe: That is so bizarre! I’m sitting here, like, ‘I know these are new batteries, I don’t know what’s up!’

Cynthia: Sorry!

Q: How long did this whole experience feel to you?

A: I don’t know because it’s … there was no time. I know I saw the yellow light. I know I poked the yellow light. After all this, I don’t know what happens next. I just remember vividly I was able to lift my head up and somehow coming out (of my body). I think, this is my theory, when I was being sucked in the tunnel, I think that’s when I was jolted, when they gave me the defibrillator. That’s when things started beating the way it was supposed to. That’s when I was like “snapped” back in my body.

The angels told Cynthia she has many purposes to fulfill.

Q: Have you thought about what your purpose is?

A: I’ve wondered for years what my purpose is. I’ve thought about it before and I’ve thought about it since, and the one thing I am really good at is animals. I had friends and people tell me that your bond with animals is amazing. They’ve never seen anybody else like that. I want so badly to help people. I know I want to do that.

Q: The angels told you there is no time for hate. They told you needed to tell certain people that.

A: As I thought about that more, Chloe, at the time, I was having this debate with people on my Facebook page about the Muslims. I don’t personally believe we can condemn or hate a certain group of people, whoever they may be. There is no room for hate. We cannot hate somebody because of their religion or lack of. On Facebook, on the news, it just seems like everything is designed to separate us. We can’t be separated because you, me, that man over there that little girl, people in Indonesia … all across the globe … we are all connected … it’s all love. That’s what it boils down to. God loves all of us. No matter what we’ve done. It’s beautiful.

]]>Opinion: The immorality of politicians politicizing religionhttp://news.jrn.msu.edu/2017/12/opinion-the-immorality-of-politicians-politicizing-religion/
http://news.jrn.msu.edu/2017/12/opinion-the-immorality-of-politicians-politicizing-religion/#commentsFri, 15 Dec 2017 02:09:53 +0000http://news.jrn.msu.edu/?p=349488Last week, President Donald Trump came through on one of his campaign promises, to end the great, great “War on Christmas,” which is the latest example of fusing Church and State, which I believe is morally unacceptable.

Since my first name is Christian, MSU’s School of Journalism gave me the forum to speak on the intersection of Christianity and politics.

Not really, but I wanted to point that out.

Christian Barrington in Michigan State’s Spartan Newsroom on September 17. Photo taken by Patti Davis.

To be serious, a person’s religious and political identities, does not change the way I perceive them.

You could hail Satan while marrying Hillary Clinton’s photo — but as long as you are a good and accepting person who does not hurt anyone and has an expansive, open mind — I could care less about your beliefs. Why? Because we are given that right, as Americans, to have our own beliefs.

What does change the way I see someone is the way they treat others, especially those who are different from them.

In primary school, history classes taught Puritans settled in the United States of America, sailing the ocean blue in the name of religious freedom. Fast forward 387 years later, the great country of Red, White and blue has hundreds of religions.

Since then, Americans have debated when and how religion should be used in governmental affairs, from Thomas Jefferson’s call for a wall to the Supreme Court cases that separates church and state.

Politicians politicizing their religious views – An overview

“This sort of thing has ebbed and flowed throughout U.S. history,” said Frank Ravitch, an MSU law professor and Walter H. Stowers chair in law and religion. “In modern times, many people think that Ronald Reagan’s bringing of religious conservatives into political power may have had some impact on this.”

The close-knit relationship between religion and politics is evident in Thomas Jefferson’s political career, according to Jonathan Hartog’s “Patriotism and Piety.” Federalists would attack Jefferson and other Republican candidates for infidelity in any form.

In more recent years, Reagan used the conservative Christian right to help him get elected. Some of them were even invited into government positions, such as Everett Koop, who vehemently opposed abortion on religious grounds, and Charles Heatherly who joined the U.S. Department of Education. According to Ravitch, the legality behind these actions are a little unclear.

The issue

President Ronald Reagan | Credit: Pexels

The issue with Reagan, Trump and many other politicians actions is that not everyone in America celebrates the same religion or a religion at all. Beginning with Koop, who opposed abortion on religious grounds, why should any man or woman, without a medical degree dictate what a woman does with her body because of their own religious beliefs?

As Arthur Caplan, professor and founding head of the Division of Medical Ethics at New York University’s Langone Medical Center said: “Many scientists would say they don’t know when life begins. There are a series of landmark moments. The first is conception, the second is the development of the spine, the third the development of the brain, consciousness, and so on.”

So, why are politicians, who have no medical degree, no priesthood and for the most part, no education besides what most Americans know from high school biology, have a right to say when life begins, and what the woman hosting that life is to do with it?

If politicians are so concerned with protecting life in the name of their God, what about protecting the health of those already here, who use services like Planned Parenthood for medical screenings? For, if we are supposed to, “Love thy neighbor as yourself. There is no greater commandment than these,” why would we deny medical care to those who cannot afford it?

While the organization does provide abortions to women, (who have a legal right to participate in the service), it also provides medical checkups, cancer screenings, STD/HIV testing, LGBT, men and women health services as well as a multitude of other medical services.

So, if politicians like President Trump, want to de-fund Planned Parenthood, they will be taking away medical services from the roughly 4.5 million Americans who visit the clinics each year.

In addition to abortion, politicians use religion to oppose same-sex marriage; it’s a crazy concept, to allow two people who love each other to enjoy the tax, health insurance and securities that marriage gives.

First, most scientists know it is something a gay person cannot control, as the National Post points out, “researchers who looked at the complete genome – a person’s entire DNA code – for more than 1,000 gay men and compared it to genetic data from a similar number of heterosexuals, found the DNA was different for gay and straight men in at least two genes.”

Third, many religious leaders are moving toward acceptance of gay culture, as is the case with University Lutheran Church in East Lansing, Mich. Pastor Haley Vae of University Lutheran said, “we are reconciling in Christ which means we are accepting of all people, no matter who they are.”

Also, 71 percent of Catholics believe gay people should be accepted, and 62 percent of Americans believe gay marriage should be legal, according to a PEW Research report.

Conclusion

The point of this article is to address why politicians should leave their personal beliefs at home when trying to make a better country for the rest of us. Not everyone practices the same religion or even at all. We all lead different lives and some of us will have to go through things like abortion, Planned Parenthood or same-sex marriage, and when those select people do, they should have their government’s full support. While the United States of America is incredibly religious, it is not a theocracy, and it should not be governed as such.

]]>http://news.jrn.msu.edu/2017/12/opinion-the-immorality-of-politicians-politicizing-religion/feed/2Muslim twin sisters speak out against stereotype surrounding the hijabhttp://news.jrn.msu.edu/2017/12/muslim-twin-sisters-speak-out-against-stereotype-surrounding-the-hijab/
Fri, 15 Dec 2017 01:44:03 +0000http://news.jrn.msu.edu/?p=350250Twin sisters Sara Bazzi and Sahar Babbagh are Muslim American women who live in Dearborn, Mich., raised with the same morals and values, but made different choices in regard to wearing a hijab, a headdress common for women of Islam to wear as a sign of modesty.

Sahar wears a hijab while Sara, on the other hand, chooses not to wear a hijab.

Devan Carmody

Sahar Babbagh at home in Dearborn, Mich. Credit: Babbagh.

“It really just depends on the person,” Bazzi, a nurse, said, “There was no pressure from anyone around us to wear [the hijab]. Even raising my daughter, my husband and I agree that when she is older it will be her decision. It truly is a personal preference.”

Both Sara and Sahar were raised wearing hijabs and as they got older Sara decided, in her teens, she didn’t want to wear hers anymore.

Islam is second largest religion in the world, with nearly 23 percent of the global population identifying as Muslim. Out of nearly one million Muslim American women, 43 percent of them chose to wear a hijab, according to NPR.

Devan Carmody

Sara Bazzi in her car. Credit: Bazzi.

Hijab wearing is a practice in Islam used not only by women, but also by some men. Exclusivity to women is another common misconception of the religion, said Imam Sohail Chaudhry of the Islamic Society of Greater Lansing.

“One of the misconceptions is that the hijab is only for women, that’s not true actually,” Chaudhry said. “From the Islamic perspective men also have a hijab, [but] it’s not exactly the same because … men and women’s bodies are different.”

According to the imam, a man’s hijab is usually long pants and shirts, to cover arms and legs.

Misconceptions surround Middle East culture in general, as many countries have very strict morals and values that sometimes get misconstrued to be part of Islam, Babbagh said.

Babbagh, also a nurse, says she sees this confusion among her friends.

“The religion of Islam does not correlate with the strict culture of some of the countries in the Middle East,” Babbagh said. “I have a friend who is from Yemen. She’s 25, and her mother puts a ton of pressure on her to be married to a man who is from the same town in Yemen, who is a doctor, and it’s honestly just crazy. People think that this is Islam but this is not Islam, this is a culture thing that is so extreme.”

Imam Chaudhry backs up this message, underscoring that Islam shares common religious goals of peace and acceptance, and that the hijab is one part of that message.

Devan Carmody

Sahar Babbagh and Sara Bazzi at Sahar’s home; Credit: Sara’s husband.

“What Islam teaches is that a woman should not be looked at for her beauty, for her body, for her hair, for her figure,” Chaudhry said.

“She should be looked at for her contribution to society, her personality, her morals, her intelligence, her productivity … And that will only happen if the focus is shifted away from her body first … then the first thing a man notices when he looks at her is not her body, and she will not be objectified,” said Chaudhry, “and in this we truly believe that the hijab is true freedom for women – it frees her from societal expectations.”

The Black Lives Matter movement was born out of the outpouring of grief and frustration following the death of Trayvon Martin in 2012 – a young, unarmed black man who was shot while walking in a gated neighborhood – and the subsequent acquittal of the man who killed him.

In the five years since Martin’s death, the Black Lives Matter movement has gained momentum, driven by the killings of Sandra Bland, Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Philando Castile and other black people at the hands of the police. The movement has grown into an international network of more than 30 chapters.

College campuses across the country have used various platforms to respond to and/or participate in efforts led by Black Lives Matter.

At Michigan State University, a student-run Christian organization encourages students to use religious faith as a tool to combat racial tension. Founded by the national Christian ministry InterVarsity, “Collegiate Black and Christian” is an all-inclusive campus organization that caters to minority students. MSU’s chapter routinely hosts Bible studies, campus events and socials.

I spoke with Bible study leader and MSU Applied Engineering Sciences Senior Saisha Johnson and Faculty Chapter Leader Brandi Brown about how the black church intermingles with the black community on campus, and what the group’s role is during racial unrest.

Brandi Brown: Our organization’s role on campus is to create a safe place on campus for black students to meet Jesus or ask questions about spirituality within their own cultural context. We host social events, weekly Bible studies and facilitate discussions that explore the intersections of faith and issues such as justice, race and mental health.

Q: What is your role?

Saisha Johnson: My role is that of a small group leader, which is a Bible study leader. Me and a few others hold Bible studies weekly for the students. We split it up by [dorm] neighborhoods and days so that we can reach everyone.

Q: How do you interact with the black community?

Johnson: We are open to everyone interested, but we are mainly focused on African-American individuals.

Brown: CBC loves serving the campus in a variety of ways. We pray for this campus and black students regularly, we attend events and we give away small gifts, like tissues, water and hot chocolate to show the black community we care.

Q: How do you encourage students to become a part of your organization?

Johnson: We do what most organizations do and recruit at Sparticipation and Spartan Remix, trying to make people aware that this sort of outlet exists and gain their interest in leadership and evangelism. After we get their contact, our first priority is to follow-up with them, see if they are truly interested and where they would see themselves in our [organization] and invite them out to our events. In the first month of school, we have our new outreach. For those weeks, instead of Bible studies, we have social events, such as movie night, game night and soul food night.”

Q: In light of increasing racial tensions and the Black Lives Matter movement, how involved is the church on social justice issues?

Johnson: Black Lives Matter is especially important to the organization because most of our members are black. Also, we go to a school where a lot of these issues are not spoken about. During a lot of the police shootings last semester, we were just open to everyone and anyone who needed prayer or who wanted a quiet place to go. Building up our black students and letting them know their voices are heard is very important to us.

Brown: There are so many factors to consider when analyzing the role of the church in the Black Lives Matter Movement of today. Historically, the church has always been a pillar of security and power during the civil rights movements. I believe the church’s role is to be the tangible hands and feet of Jesus. And to speak out on issues of injustice, to preach the true meaning of Jesus that includes freedom and redemption for the marginalized, and to tangibly serve the communities that they inhabit. Additionally, I think the church needs to be facilitating real discussions on race, justice and social issues. As far as CBC’s role on campus in light of [Black Lives Matter], we believe our role is to be a place of refuge and hope for students on campus. We want to preach the message of Jesus that includes and loves the marginalized. We want to talk and facilitate discussion about the issues that affect our community and support our campus/community in prayer, service and any way we can.

Q: Do you collaborate with other black organizations? Why or why not?

Saisha Johnson: [Collaborations] are important to us, letting students know that it is okay to be a Christian in college and that Christianity doesn’t mean you can’t have fun or be involved in multiple other organizations. I feel like more people are coming to understand that a relationship with God is an important way to balance your life.

Q: Do you feel like a church presence is increasing or decreasing in the black community? Why?

Saisha Johnson: With social media and the world we live in, it feels like we are moving further and further away from the church. This could also be because some churches are corrupt, and people feel judged. That’s a main thing that we [ as a student organization] understand, and we try to make people feel as comfortable and welcomed as possible.

Brandi Brown: Unfortunately, going further into the history of Christianity, the stains of white supremacy and abusive theology have made it hard for black people to see Christ’s heart for the oppressed and the marginalized. I do believe the church has some work to do in terms of reclaiming the stories of the Bible and preaching them in context. There are so many stories about oppression and Jesus’ view of people being taken advantage of.

Rev. Jeremy Hall led services every month until things went up in smoke in September. New legislation brought confusion and concern to his parishioners, and continuing services could put everyone in legal trouble.

Hall is the leader of the First Cannabis Church of Logic and Reason in Lansing, Mich. The church that views the drug spiritually but is viewed with uncertainty by city officials — that’s where Hall’s worries began.

The First Cannabis Church joins others of its kind across the country, each with its status under the watchful eye of local government. In states like Colorado where recreational marijuana is legalized, the International Church of Cannabis was protected by the state’s House of Representatives against religious restriction. Or in Indiana, where the First Church of Cannabis was granted tax-exempt status but rests in an area where marijuana is prohibited. Back in Lansing, a new ordinance has put local dispensaries and the church at risk.

Approved by the city council in September, the ordinance will cut down the number of dispensaries in city limits to 25, an estimated drop from 50 businesses, according to Hall and Lansing State Journal. Dispensaries wishing to stay open have until December 15 to submit an application to the city for review of its history and economic impact. The city then chooses 20 dispensaries during the first round and five more in a second round.

One of the new zoning regulations prohibits dispensaries from being within 500 feet of a church. Though the First Cannabis Church was not able to secure federal non-profit status, it is registered as one in Michigan. Still, it puts Hall and his members in a tricky situation. At services, which averaged near 20 attendees before suspension, marijuana would be distributed to those with medicinal cards.

Having that risk in mind, Hall wondered: How can they stay 500 feet from themselves, a place that acts loosely as both a church and a dispensary?

“It’s really become almost like a battlefield,” Hall said, who added future events under the church’s name will have to be held secretly, if at all.

City officials did not respond to a request for comment on the Cannabis Church’s concerns.

The trouble comes just over a year since the church opened in July 2016 – the only known one of its kind in Michigan. Not securing federal recognition and fearing the safety of their members brought gatherings to a halt.

An average service

Before the Cannabis Church suspended services in September, Rev. Hall held them once a month in south Lansing, most recently at Inner Ascended Masters Ministry. Over the course of two hours, the reverend would discuss a topic after a short potluck, break into small groups and hand out “religious material” to medicinal card-carrying members.

And by religious material, Hall meant cannabis. “We’d give out a pre-rolled cannabis, cigarette, joint – whatever you want to call it nowadays.”

The church takes surplus donations of marijuana, providing the drug to parishioners who can’t afford it regularly. Hall says for some, it’s the only dose they get each month. And those who can afford to do so will donate money to cover future costs of sharing the religious material.

A separate area is reserved for people ingesting or smoking the drug, so children and people who do not partake in marijuana are not affected.

Services were also broadcasted on Facebook Live by Jason Durham, one of the founders who used his indie filmmaker background as the church’s videographer. Exercising caution, Durham would always ask for permission from anyone who would appear in the video, though he doesn’t recall more than two people ever asking to be hidden.

Beyond the services, parishioners are also part of the church’s “Pay It Forward” program. Parishioners carry cards that include a message about the church’s mission. After performing a random act of kindness – like buying a cup of coffee for a stranger, Hall suggests – a card is handed out to fight the stigma against marijuana users. Then, ideally, the recipient will also pay it forward and spread the message.

“It does two things,” Hall said. “It multiplies the good deeds that you do, but it also lets people know that cannabis users are good people … you start changing public perception of who we are as cannabis users.”

The cards have even made it as far as Afghanistan, where U.S. troops received a care package and later sent Hall a photo of the accompanying card.

“So, it’s out there,” Hall said.

Daniel Rayzel

The back of a First Cannabis Church card details the mission of the organization’s pay-it-forward campaign.

Moving forward

Even with no more services, the church has no plans to give up on one of its signature events: “Cannabis Saves Christmas.” Last year, the public donated approximately $5,000 in toys to the church to give away to families in need.

This year, Durham said he expects the church to collect and donate $2,000 to $5,000 in toys. When the gifts are handed out alongside other goodies like hot chocolate, he hopes to be viewed differently.

“We don’t want the ‘stoner’ stigma,” Durham added. “But if [people] are gonna look at us like that, then they’re gonna see us doing all these positive things at the same time.”

One of Durham’s favorite sermons was about how the reverend had a treasured collection of “Magic: The Gathering” cards, of the popular trading card game, stored in his basement. The cards were valuable – and Hall knew it – which is why they were kept away from the public, away from where others could appreciate it.

“One day, his house flooded,” Durham said. “He lost all that. But he also lost everything else that didn’t have value, and he was forced to start over.”

The cards were never played,­­ sold, donated or put to any other use besides as a basement keepsake. Despite being removed from what is expected of a traditional religious sermon, it still served as a metaphor for rejecting materialism: Take your replaceable belongings and give it away to someone who will derive joy from it.

“Instead of holding on to just the value of what you own,” Durham said, “You start to change your conception of happiness to doing things for other people.”

Holding this principle close to what the church stands for, Hall is determined to not give up on keeping the First Cannabis Church of Logic and Reason alive in Lansing. If marijuana legalization makes it on the 2018 ballot in Michigan, services could resume as early as January. Paired with watching how the city ordinance affects dispensaries, the two benchmarks would provide the confidence needed to operate the church legally as it was before.

“The biggest thing is that we don’t want to stop being a community outreach organization,” Hall said. “We want to be the people still in the community, changing the face of cannabis.”

]]>Staying out of the fray – Jehovah’s Witnesses’ political neutralityhttp://news.jrn.msu.edu/2017/12/staying-out-of-the-fray-jehovahs-witnesses-political-neutrality/
http://news.jrn.msu.edu/2017/12/staying-out-of-the-fray-jehovahs-witnesses-political-neutrality/#commentsWed, 13 Dec 2017 01:20:33 +0000http://news.jrn.msu.edu/?p=349389Gun control. Fake news. Abortion. Healthcare. These buzzwords dominate headlines and incite strong reactions from both sides. But while Democrats and Republicans are more ideologically divided than ever before, Jehovah’s Witnesses remain neutral in the face of a divisive American news cycle. One expression of their neutrality is their choice not to vote.

Some picket, protest and petition to fight for their beliefs, but Jehovah’s Witnesses and married couple Samuel and Melissa Burden have a different approach: Preaching. You won’t catch them at the polling stations on voting days, but sharing their gospel on a street corner such as this one in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t fill out ballots, because that is not something Jesus modeled, Melissa said.

“[Jesus’] followers wanted him to be part of the government at the time, and He said that His world was no part of this world; His solutions weren’t going to be earthly like that,” Melissa said.

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe in God and Jesus, but unlike other branches of Christianity, Jehovah’s Witnesses do not use a cross in worship or celebrate holidays. They rely on strict interpretations of the Bible that extend as far as refusing blood transfusions. They also do not vote.

“As Jehovah’s Witness, we choose not to cast any vote typically for government,” said Samuel. “We feel like the only real solution to mankind’s government is through God’s government; it’s a more long-lasting solution than maybe short-term [measures] now?”

So what is a Jehovah’s Witness? “Jehovah” is the personal name of God, according to the Jehovah’s Witness website.

“Thus, our name Jehovah’s Witnesses designates us as a group of Christians who proclaim the truth about Jehovah, the Creator of all things. (Revelation 4:11) We witness to others by the way we live our lives and by sharing with them what we’ve learned from the Bible”

There are more than eight million Jehovah’s Witnesses internationally, according to the religion’s official website, although some accounts are much higher. That’s because the religion only counts followers who actively preach their gospels every month.

Members report their outreach efforts to local congregations who crunch the numbers. Samuel and Melissa Burden are married and regularly perform outreach efforts together.

Worldwide, the religion’s spread is growing dramatically in underdeveloped countries like Brazil, Mexico and Ecuador while growth is stagnant or minimal in wealthier nations like the U.S and countries in Europe, according to official stats from the Witness website.

On one busy Saturday in Grand Rapids, Mich. the couple camped out on a busy street corner downtown to explain their beliefs.

Not voting: Un-American?

In Michigan, the religion makes up less than 1 percent of the population, according to the Pew Research Center. Last year’s presidential election was preceded by mud-splattering, fake news and contention, but Jehovah’s Witnesses like Samuel and Melissa stayed out of the fray.

“We choose to be neutral, politically, so we can show love to our brothers around the whole world,” Melissa said. “We don’t choose one side or another side.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses are the least likely to vote of any religious group. Sixty-four percent of Jehovah’s Witnesses report they are not registered to vote, or they are unsure of their registration status.

That stat pisses a lot of people off, said former Jehovah’s Witness Vanessa Robles, 27.

“The moment someone finds out that I’m not registered to vote, they’re just appalled … it’s a whole can of worms unleashed on me,” said Robles. “[They’ll say] ‘that’s un-American!’ or ‘How can you not have a say? Your opinions matter!’ – You really feel cornered.”

Robles grew up in a strict Jehovah’s Witness family that did not discuss politics. She did not learn about government or civics, except in grade school. Even then, it was hard for her to relate.

“In fifth grade, when we started learning about the constitution and politics at school it was extremely hard because I hadn’t the slightest clue what was going on,” said Robles. “I’ve been raised this way, that’s just what I am.”

Robles’ grandmother taught her the Jehovah’s Witness belief system and brought her to church and Bible studies. When she died, Vanessa fell out of touch with the religion.

Over time, Robles began questioning her Jehovah’s Witness belief systems and adopted “pagan” customs: Celebrating her birthday and even participating in gift-giving Christmases with her boyfriend. But Vanessa has not yet ventured into politics.

Left, right? Who cares?

“Even today, I’ll listen to Michigan Public Radio or NPR, and I just cannot make left or right out of it,” said Robles. “It does not make any sense to me… I couldn’t tell you what’s going on.”

For Robles, it wasn’t hard to resist one side or another, mostly because she barely knew which side was which.

“The only reason I could tell you who the candidates were was because it was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s Donald Trump,” said Robles. “He doesn’t know anything, and then there’s Hillary Clinton, because her husband was president, right?”

Damned if she does damned if she doesn’t

The game of politics is a catch-22 for Witnesses and former Witnesses like Robles – she’s “wrong” for having different views, even though her position is not actually having one. Her neutrality riles people up just as much, and she feels the brunt of their anger and hostility.

“Everyone is always giving me such a hard time … I’ve gotten so much backlash for not voting but it would be really, really hard for me because I don’t know what some of these [politicians] are saying,” said Robles. “I don’t know if I would be a good candidate for voting.”

Election Day was Tuesday, Nov. 7th, and in East Lansing, voters decided on changes in income tax and picked two city council members. While her friends and neighbors headed to the polls, for Robles, it was just another Tuesday.

“I make the joke – and I think there’s some truth to it – I just want to go hide under my rock,” said Robles. “Let me know when things get worse.”

Anti-Muslim assaults and hate crimes have reached peak levels, exceeding 2001’s rate, according to new data from the Pew Research Center. The FBI reported 127 assaults in 2016 as compared to 93 during the year of 9/11. Across the board, vandalism and intimidation against Muslims is also increasing.

Islam Awareness Week spanned six days in early October and featured presentations from an imam, seminars about different branches of Muslims worldwide, and a talk on ISIS and how it perverts the Quran. Each night was capped off with food from a Muslim-dominated country.

On the fifth night of festivities, MSU Religion Professor Mohammed Khalil spoke to a packed room about ISIS and how it manipulates Islamic Law to give credibility to their twisted values. Khalil specializes in Islamic thought and Muslim culture.

MSA Vice chairman, Batoul Sadek, a human biology major, said the event gave students an opportunity to create change at a grassroots level.

“There’s a very negative Muslim rhetoric, and so we wanted to start small and focus on how we can change things on campus,” he said.

Barnes and Noble has an inventory of over 2,000 mindfulness books while the Apple app store carries a myriad of mindfulness options for meditation on-the-go. Devotees swear by its life-changing potential, and its even being employed in schools and work places.

The principle has become increasingly trendy in recent years, as shown by an increasing interest in mindfulness products, yoga and Google searches.

Mind the Hype

A new study appropriately titled “Mind the Hype” argues it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. A team of researchers led by Dr. Nicholas T. Van Dam, an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, argues there’s a lot of misinformation about mindfulness that’s supported by flaky science and overblown attention in the news.

“Misinformation … can potentially lead to people being harmed, cheated, disappointed, and/or disaffected.”

Is meditation dangerous?

Mindfulness in general is relatively understudied, said Yanli “Jeff” Lin, an MSU clinical psychology grad student and mindfulness expert, although some evidence suggests diving deep into the practice can be harmful for some.

“Weird things happen when you sit with yourself,” said Lin. “There’s not nearly enough work to understand what’s really going on, but [you] can develop a lot of crippling, literally crippling, effects … you’ll experience the full spectrum of emotions … some things you might not have ever experienced.”

Meditation can force people affected by post traumatic stress disorders, anxiety disorders and other afflictions into painful depths of the mind. The scope of the pain is difficult to assess and depends on duration of practice and the severity of psychiatric afflictions.

“Some of those things are pretty severe, [like] enduring perceptual difficulties, not being able to drive, really severe emotional problems, etc.,” said Lin.

More than 20 studies found meditation-induced episodes of “psychosis, mania, anxiety, panic, traumatic memory-re-experiencing and other forms of deterioration.”

Mixed findings

One major finding in the Mind the Hype study is that previous mindfulness research has produced mixed results. Often, the results do not provide sufficient empirical proof in defense of its magic:

“In a recent review and meta-analysis … mindfulness based interventions were found to have a mixture of only moderate, low, or no efficacy depending on the disorder being treated … specifically, the efficacy of mindfulness was only moderate in reducing symptoms of anxiety, depression and pain … efficacy was low in reducing stress and improving quality of life.”

What mindfulness is, and what it is not

Mindfulness has a lot of hype – but what really is it? If you ask the news media, scientists and Buddhists, you will get a variety of answers, and it’s hard to research something you cannot define, argues Lin.

“‘Minfulness’ is an umbrella,” said Lin. “A lot of contemporary mindfulness based practices are based off of Buddhism, which is a religion with its own culture, so translating that into its own kind of definition is tricky … you’re going to get differences in how you define it and more important, how you study it.”

Mindfulness is not regulated by any authoritative body and there are no explicit guidelines about its safety. The National Institute of Health warns the practice could exacerbate current problems and advises prospective mindfulness practitioners to first consult their doctor.

The bottom-line

Lin says overall, mindfulness does not pose health risks to the general public. In his work, he has seen mindfulness has decreased emotional reactivity. In an experiment, Lin asked one group to meditate, and then look at provocative images. Another control group did not practice mindfulness or meditation before looking at the pictures.

“People who meditate before looking at the pictures, irrespective of if they’re instructed to view the picture mindfully or not, show less emotional reactivity,” Lin said. “That tells me that for people who have not [meditated] before, maybe this practice is good. Being less reactive takes the edge off a little bit so you’re able to observe yourself. Having that distance gives you a chance to respond instead of react.”

The benefits of mindfulness can be observed after just one experience, although continuous meditation and practice increases any benefits. Paying attention to your actions and being deliberate is beneficial, said Lin.

““Hey, you should pay attention!” said Lin. That’s generally a really good thing. I think that gets overshadowed. You are a lot more automatic, a lot less conscious than what you experience. Being mindful is asking what’s going on right now, not just for being more productive or getting better grades, but understanding yourself.”